Mangan, Richard J.. 1997. Surviving Fire Entrapments-Comparing Conditions Inside Vehicles and Fire Shelters. 9751 2817. Missoula, MT: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Missoula Technology and Development Center.
This report describes tests in California, Florida, and Montana during which vehicles, fire shelters, and firefighters' personal protective equipment were purposely placed in the path of test fires. Temperatures inside the vehicles, fire shelters, and surrounding air were measured at levels of from 1 inch to 9 feet above the ground. Radiant heat flux was measured in the immediate vicinity of the engines and in the fire shelters. The levels of six gases (sulfur dioxide, hydrogen cyanide, benzene, hydrochloric acid, toluene, and carbon monoxide) were measured in-side the vehicles and inside fire shelters. The tests showed that temperatures are lower within 12 inches of the ground (where a firefighter would be if lying in a fire shelter) than several feet off the ground (where a firefighter would be sitting in an engine cab). During several tests, plastic materials inside the vehicle caught fire, filling the interior with black smoke. Color photographs show the tests and their outcome.
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